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Biological Warfare in World War II

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Biological Warfare in World War II Biological Warfare in World War II Lecture No. 3 1 1. Outline • The French Programme – Slides 2 - 3 • The British Programme – Slides 4 - 11 • The Japanese Programme – Slides 12 - 16 • The US Programme – Slides 17 - 20 Notes: The aim of this lecture is to review what might be called the second generation of biological warfare programmes. These produced the first effective biological weapons and the first attempts to use modern biological weapons against people. Unless stated otherwise the main source for the lecture is the SIPRI Volume No 18 as in lecture 2. Ref: Geissler, E., and van Courtland Moon, J. (2001) Biological and Toxin Weapons Research, Development and Use from the Middle Ages to 1945 (SIPRI Chemical & Biological Warfare Studies No. 18). Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2 2. The French Programme 1935 – 1940 (i) • Probably influenced by its position as the Depositary State for the 1925 Geneva Protocol, France’s programme was relatively dormant between 1926 and 1934 • The research seems to have been reduced to technological monitoring to retain an adequate scientific capability particularly in regard to defence against biological attack • By 1934 German rearmament led to a renewed concerns about biological attacks. Trials were undertaken of the use of non- pathogenic bacteria in the Paris Metro and botulinum toxin was added to the list of agents that might be used • By 1937 increasing concerns about war with Germany led to the establishment of a specialist laboratory at Le Bouchet Notes: The point that is important for students to grasp is that France was responding to fears about German activities. Actually Germany had little interest in offensive biological warfare in World War II, but this was not clear to its adversaries at the time. For further analysis of the failure of intelligence, see chapter 8 of Dando, M. R. (2006) Bioterror and Biowarfare: A Beginner’s Guide. Oxford: One World. 3 3. The French Programme 1935 – 1940 (ii) • In 1938 a plenary session of the oversight committee heard reports on the dispersion of botulinum toxin in the air and on protection against ricin. Results of the experiments on the Paris Metro led to the view that epidemics could be generated in the civilian population • The programme accelerated significantly in 1939 and considered both attacks and defence against ricin and attacks on German staple food crops by beetles and fungal agents. Work was also done on projectiles contaminated with tetanus or gangrene to attack human beings • In early 1940 it was reported that it was quite feasible to infect cattle using aerosols of bovine plague virus Notes: Clearly in a few years before the German occupation France had explored a very wide range of possible uses of biological weapons against humans, animals and plants. Ref: Centre d’Etudes du Bouchet (CEB), Vert-le-Petit, Commission de Prophylaxie veterinaire contre la guerre modern, proces-verbal no 3, reunion du 10 fevrier 1949 a l’etat-major de la defense nationale [Commission for Veterinary Prophylaxis against Modern Warfare, Minutes no. 3, meeting of 10 Feb. 1949at the National Defence Headquarters] pp. 3-4 Cited at p. 87 Lepick, O. (1999) ‘French activities related to biological warfare, 1919-45’,. In: Geissler, E. and van Courtland Moon, J. E. (eds.) Biological and Toxin Weapons: Research, Development and Use from the Middle Ages to 1945. SIPRI Chemical & Biological Warfare Studies, no.18. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 70-90. 4 4. The British Programme in World War II (i) • Because of similar concerns to France the UK’s Committee of Imperial Defence established a Bacteriological Warfare Subcommittee in November 1936 • The UK had ratified the Geneva Protocol in 1930. Like many other states it had entered reservations that meant that it was bound only in regard to other parties and only if such states and their allies remained bound by the prohibition • In late 1939 the Bacteriological Warfare Subcommittee reconvened as the War Cabinet Committee on Biological Warfare and it was authorised also to consider work “from the offensive angle” • The work in the UK was strongly linked with Canadian activities and later with those in the US Notes: What is clear once again in the British example is the impact of the 1925 Geneva Protocol initially conditioning a defensive response, but then fears of German activities leading to a perceived need for a retaliatory deterrent. Ref: Balmer, B. (2001) Britain and Biological Warfare: Expert Advice and Science Policy, 1930-65, New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Carter, G. B., and Pearson, G. S (2001). ‘British Biological Warfare and Biological Defense: 1925-45’, in Geissler, E., and van Courtland Moon, J. (eds.) Biological and Toxin Weapons Research, Development and Use from the Middle Ages to 1945 (SIPRI Chemical & Biological Warfare Studies No. 18). Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 168-189. 5 5. The British Programme in World War II (ii) • Canada was involved with the British biological warfare programme because of its links with the British military and government, and its excellent scientists including Sir Frederick Banting • Banting had received the Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine as the co-discoverer of insulin in 1923, and ran an outstanding medical research laboratory at the University of Toronto. He had prestige and connections • In 1937 concerned again about reports of German activities, Banting prepared a detailed analysis of potential biological attacks – which he considered a grave and immediate threat Notes: Banting was an influential scientist and was important in raising concerns about biological warfare in Canada and the UK. Banting’s involvement in biological warfare has been discussed in detail by Jeanne Guillemin Ref: Guillemin, J. (2007) Biological Weapons: From the Invention of State- Sponsored Programs to Contemporary Bioterrorism, New York: Columbia University Press. 6 6. The British Programme in World War II (iii) • On the outbreak of war Banting led a mission to the UK where his main concern was pursuing biological warfare issues. He was killed in 1941 when flying again to the UK to deal, in part, with biological warfare issues • By that time, however, he had engaged a number of other outstanding Canadian scientists in work on biological warfare • Banting’s view was that “the only safe defensive position against any weapon is afforded by a through understanding which can only be gained by a complete preparation for the offensive use of that weapon” Notes: The Canadian link with the UK and the US in biological warfare activities was important during and after the war. For details see Avery’s account in SIPRI No 18. Ref: Avery, D. (1999) ‘Canadian Biological and Toxin Warfare Research, Development and Planning’, in Geissler, E., and van Courtland Moon, J. (Eds.), Biological and Toxin Weapons Research, Development and Use from the Middle Ages to 1945 (SIPRI Chemical & Biological Warfare Studies No. 18). Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 190- 214 at p. 197 7 7. The British Programme in World War II (iv) • In August 1940 after the fall of France a new department to deal with biological warfare was set up at Porton Down where the Chemical Defence Experimental Station was located. The new department was headed by Paul Fildes who had been head of the Bacterial Chemistry Unit at the Middlesex Hospital • The immediate need was seen to be a requirement for a retaliatory deterrent. This need was met by the production of an anthrax anti- animal weapon which could significantly damage Germany’s vulnerable wartime agriculture • Experiments were carried out to determine the anthrax lethal doses for sheep, horses and cattle and it was shown that these animals could locate and eat randomly distributed linseed meal cattle cakes spread on pasture land Notes: It is important to stress to students that a careful experimental approach was used in this British programme to ensure that useable and effective weapons were available if needed. Ref: Hammond, P. M., and Carter, G. (2002) From Biological Warfare To Healthcare: Porton Down 1940-2000, New York: Palgrave Macmillan. 8 8. The British Programme in World War II (v) • Cattle cakes were made by a London soap maker and sent to Porton in weekly batches of 250,000 A simple machine injected 0.05ml of a 1010 ml spore suspension into each cake and the cake was sealed and dried • The required 5 million anthrax-laced cakes were made in late 1942 and early 1943 and boxed up in 400s • Estimates were made of the proportion of land devoted to grazing in Germany, the likely number of cattle and operational flying heights and speeds • One type of attack scenario envisaged a massive single raid by 1250 aircraft each with 9 – 10 boxes of cakes which would be disseminated over a 18 to 20 minute run at 200mph Notes: Anti-agriculture attacks are not what most people will first think of when discussing biological warfare, but the open literature has a number of detailed examples of scientific analyses of how biological weapons could be used to destroy staple crops and animal husbandry. 9 9. The British Programme in World War II (vi) • Whilst the anti-animal weapon was being developed Fildes and his colleagues concentrated their research on producing an anti-personnel biological weapon • Consultation with the chemical weapons experts at Porton led to the conclusion that the best method of infecting people was through the respiratory tract. So if a biological agent could be aerosolised from a muniton such an infection might best be achieved • An apparatus was devised to produce bacterial clouds in the laboratory and it was shown that experimental animals could easily be infected • Anthrax was chosen for most work for obvious reasons. The agent was code named “N” Notes: This was the crucial discovery that led to similar conclusions and attempts to produce aerosolising weapons in subsequent offensive programmes.
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